The medieval period was one of great revolutions in the financial system, often associated with international trade, especially in Italy. The modern banking system was invented in medieval Italian cities to facilitate trade, and many innovations such as interest-bearing deposit accounts and loans were practiced by the Italian banks. Banks would make payment from accounts on depositors' behalf, an innovation that gave way to modern credit cards and checking. Banks profited by investing deposits on their own behalf, a practice now known as proprietary trading. There were even forms of overdraft protection. Letters of credit, currency exchange, and notary contracts were also common, as were a wide range of investment options.
Although government-issued coinage was first common in antiquity, it was also a common feature of the Middle Ages and closely connected with the nascent banking system.
Another major economic development was the expansion of the bourgeois class of merchants and traders and their increasing power over civil governments, especially because of their involvement in loaning money to governments (whether monarchies or republics).
https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/medieval-banking-twelfth-and-thirteenth-centuries
One major shift is the law of supply and demand. After the Black Plague killed more than forty percent of Europe's population, serfs were treated better and allowed more rights due to the their newfound ability to leave and join another manor. Similarly, in the modern economy, when workers are scarce companies offer incentives such as higher pay or more generous benefit packages to keep them.
Another change that happened in medieval Europe is a coinage system. The Roman Empire used coins, but after it fell, parts of Europe reverted back to a barter system. As kingdoms started to emerge, rulers started to implement coins for trade. They also used coins in order to make taxation easier to collect. The modern economy still uses coins and hard currency, though there is a push to go to virtual currency.
Another shift that originated in Europe during this time was the concept of private property. By the end of the medieval era, people started to graze their animals less on public land and more on their own fields. This concept of private property also meant that Europeans needed fences to keep their animals in and keep that which could harm their animals out. In the modern era, private property drives capitalistic society. People aspire to buy houses and other goods for status and comfort reasons.
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